Nokia 1 Android Oreo Go Edition launched in India for Rs 5,499, to go on sale from March 28

HMD Global is bringing its entry-level Nokia 1 Android Oreo Go Edition phone to India. The Nokia 1 Android Oreo Go Edition phone will be available for buying in India from Wednesday, March 28, at a recommended best buy price of Rs 5,499, the company announced on Monday. The Nokia 1 Android Oreo Go Edition will be sold offline which means that you’ll be able to buy it from physical retail stores from across the country. Additionally, Reliance Jio customers will be eligible to avail a cashback of Rs 2,200 along with 60GB of additional data, bringing the price of the handset effectively down to Rs 3,299.

The Nokia 1 doesn’t exactly dazzle from a looks point of view. It doesn’t dazzle from a hardware point of view as well. It’s made entirely out of plastic — with smooth matte finish that feels good in the hands — and comes with a fairly generic design reminiscent of any other budget phone in the market. The phone was first announced at MWC 2018, in Barcelona, in February and Ajey Mehta who is vice president for HMD Global India had confirmed to India Today Tech that the company will be bringing the Nokia 1 to the country in early April, and that it will sell the phone via offline channels.

“There are more than 1.3 billion feature phone users around the world, many from markets in Asia and Africa. As the value market leader in feature phones, we understand the barriers and challenges people face when it comes to stepping up to a smartphone which is where the Nokia 1 fits in perfectly. Not only is this our most affordable smartphone ever, it also combines the reassuring quality and design of a Nokia smartphone with the latest Android Oreo (Go edition) to deliver exceptional value and realise our dream of creating a complete smartphone experience that is accessible to everyone,” Mehta said while making the announcement on Monday.

HMD will be offering the Nokia 1 in two colours: warm red and dark blue, and both these versions will come with a dual-tone design with red/blue on the back, and a white outline along the border. The back cover will be removable. The battery — a 2,150mAh with a claimed standby of up to 15 days — will be removable as well. The Nokia 1, will further come with, a 4.5-inch FWVGA — and not HD — IPS display, and a 1.1GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6737 processor. Connectivity options will include: 802.11 b/g/n, GPS/AGPS, Bluetooth 4.2, Micro USB 2.0, 3.5mm AV jack, proximity sensor, ambient light sensor and g-sensor. The dual-SIM phone will support 4G LTE and come with a 5-megapixel rear camera with an LED flash and a 2-megapixel camera.

The Nokia 1 is essentially an entry-level phone that will rely heavily on stock, unadulterated Google software, and a set of Google apps designed to make the best possible use of the bare-bones hardware at hand.

Further, to add a hint of nostalgia to the package, HMD is also bringing back Xpress-on covers, to be sold separately, with the Nokia 1. The Xpress On covers will be available separately from a pack of azure and grey or yellow and pink starting from April at a price of Rs 450.